Community members can play a role in picking the next Chicago Public Schools CEO/Superintendent as the district expects to interview finalists next month.
The school district is asking CPS students, parents and others to apply to be part of a community interview panel that will meet with finalists and provide feedback to the school board.
CPS hired the executive search firm Alma Advisory Group to recruit candidates last spring after the controversial exit of former CEO Pedro Martinez, who was fired without cause following disagreements with Mayor Brandon Johnson and his allies. The new leader will have to grapple with the district’s shaky finances and threats from the federal government over the district’s diversity programs, among other issues.
A community interview panel is unusual in this type of search but district officials have said they are committed to hearing from residents, though applicants were given just over a week to express their interest in the panel. Over the summer, some said they wanted the district to hire a leader with ties to Chicago who understands the district’s most pressing issues.
CPS employees, students, parents and alumni, as well as Chicago residents and representatives of community organizations, are eligible to join the panel. CPS will hold a lottery to choose up to 15 panel members, who will get training before interviewing the finalists in mid-November, CPS said. Panelists will submit a survey with their impressions of the candidates to the board.
Applicants can nominate themselves or others for consideration online. The deadline to apply is noon on Tuesday. Selected panelists will be notified next week.
Debby Pope, an appointed school board member from District 2 on the North Side, said hundreds of people have already applied for the panel. Pope said she hopes the group can zero in on key attributes for the district’s next leader, including skills the board may have overlooked.
“We hope that they will be able to help us see the candidate in a different way, perhaps, than some of us do,” Pope said.
The board is looking for someone with public education experience, political know-how, a community-centered leadership style, experience working with labor unions, and a track record of addressing inequities, among other qualities, according to the job listing.
The board wants to conclude the search process by December, Pope said. She wouldn’t say how many candidates are being considered. The board is holding another round of interviews in the next two weeks that will be important in selecting the finalists.
Pope isn’t sure how many finalists there will be.
“It’s not like, ‘Oh, we want three candidates and will make sure that three people fit into the finalist mold,’” Pope said.
The board won’t release the names of individual candidates before it narrows down its list of finalists.
“Many of them are in positions where they would not want to reveal to their current jobs that they are interested,” Pope said.
The board is requiring the next head of CPS to hold an Illinois teachers license and a superintendent certificate, saying that the person at the helm must have a background in education to prioritize students.
CPS has been led by a CEO since 1995, when the district became the first in the country to be overseen by a chief executive.